April 30, 2010

I have a friend who refuses to wear anything from a garage sale. It's "gross and unsanitary." That baffled me and I asked her to pinpoint what, exactly, is gross and unsanitary about it. She explained that the clothing has been in someone else's home and their home might be dirty, or they might be dirty. Fair enough, I told her.

I wanted to tell her that there are these inventions now that you can put in your home that will clean clothes for you. There is soap for them, and they even produce hot water to kill germs if you think that your 400 lb. box of laundry detergent from Costco won't do the job effectively.

I also wanted to tell her that I am sorry for my sarcasm.

I have been on the hunt for clothes for my kids. My older boys have been busy destroying their existing clothes. They are either going to drive me to the poor house or the nut house. Neither scenario will end well. They have decided to pull the buttons off of their shorts, slide down wood with nails in it that rip holes into the backs of their shorts, write on their brand new shorts from Target with a Sharpie. A Sharpie! And their clothes keep mysteriously disappearing from their drawers. I think that they are selling their clothes for spare change to buy candy. I cannot confirm this suspicion, however, but it does make sense.

I am relatively new to the garage sale business, I admit that, but in the few weeks that I have been hitting the garage sales with intense vigor, I have made out like a bandit.

Exhibit A: Gap plaid shorts. Retails for $27, I paid $3. And no tax. I hate paying tax. Granted, we don't have a tax on clothing here in NJ, yet. But if I order clothing online, there is tax and as I stated above, I hate paying tax.Exhibit B: Gap Madras shorts. Retails for $32.50. I paid $3.Exhibit C: Camo pants for Joe, also from the Gap. Retail $23.50. Paid $1. I bought a pair of pants for my boy that cost less than a cup of coffee from Dunkin Donuts.Joe is my garage sale partner in crime. He is a very cheap date. All he ever wants me to buy for him is the junk that people are getting rid of for a quarter, or ten cents. And, because he is completely adorable, most people just give him stuff for free. The do not give me anything for free, which- Hello? I am completely adorable, too.

Hit some garage sales this weekend and let me know what you find. In these uncertain economic times, when we want to shop but feel badly for doing so if money is tight, garage sales are a fun and economical way to shop. We are teaching our children the value of a dollar, how to look for bargains, and to be good stewards of what we have been given.

My Family

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